Tursunov does not travel with a hitting partner as Andy Murray does, nor does the Russian have the backing of lucrative sponsors.

And while he accepts that he has not done badly, earning nearly $5 million during his career, he says the costs of competing on the circuit are constantly spiraling.

"There are certain expenses you can't escape such as airline tickets and so forth but then you have coaches, if you want to compete well, if you want to make it in to the top 50 there's no way you can do that without a coach," he said.

"I've tried. Roger has done it for some time but he's still traveling with a physio, the guy who strings his racquets and those are all expenses you pay yourself.

"You pay a salary to your coach, then you pay his and your travel expenses as well as food. So it adds up. I think to travel with a coach you are probably going to hit $200,000 a year in expenses."

Tursunov was just 12 when he left his native Russia to try his luck in the U.S. after being introduced to a tennis coach through his father.

Following a one-month trial, it was decided that this prodigious young talent had a real talent -- and after that there was no looking back.

"The coach felt like I was someone," remembered Tursunov.

"He saw some potential in me and I decided that I had a one-way ticket to the U.S. and my dad left me after a month."

While he has never managed to prosper at the grand slam tournaments, Tursonov has enjoyed his time in the sun.

Cast your mind back to Wimbledon 2005 and it was the Russian who played the pantomime villain on Centre Court by defeating British favorite Tim Henman.